The present invention relates generally to tools for installing oil and grease seals, and more particularly, a tool which will effectively install a large variety of seals of various sizes.
The present invention is a useful tool for installing seals in a variety of sizes, but it is also adaptable to install seals using so-called stackable components, i.e., seal tools which may be extended axially prior to their use. The present invention operates on a simple principle, and particularly one where the axial dimension may be easily varied and simply manipulated. Typically, the tool allows installation not only of ordinary seals, but also seals wherein axial extension lips or other extensions cause the seal to be installed over protruding shafts.
Likewise, there are provided various adaptor rings that will accommodate seals ranging from about one-half an inch to 5 inches in diameter, or perhaps even longer. The seals also are designed to accommodate the exclusion features or extended dirt lips on the oil seals, or to provide secondary seals against radial flanges, etc. The tool is designed with a nesting feature, to accommodate a driving force, and one in which the two-component tool includes a closed end wall which receives a handle adapted for driving the seal, one or more pins to secure the component and also includes a second component which may be received in the first component by a simple twist lock operation. Thereafter, the second component presents an abutting end face against the closed end portion of the first component so that the driving force may be applied to the cup and then to the second component without damage to the pins holding the components together.
In addition to this configuration, the tool may also include a pair of extension sleeves. The first sleeve nests within the cup with the second cylindrical component nesting in the first extension sleeve. Then the driving tool fits within the second extension sleeve. The driven tool or second component comes in a wide variety of sizes, any one of which fits readily into the first or driving tool component. Each of the driven components includes a short axial slot and a short circumferential slot, thus making the twist lock operation the ultimate in simplicity and reliability.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a simple, multi-component tool for installing oil or grease seals.
It is another object of the invention to provide a tool for installing a seal wherein a first component includes a driving handle located centrally of the closed end of this first component.
Another object of the invention is to provide a variety of second components which may be interchangeably used with the first component.
A still further object of the invention is to provide a series of second components, each of which includes a simple twist lock device and each of which includes an annular end face which is adapted to rest on the end face of the closed end portion of the cup or first member.
A still further object of the invention is to provide a series of stackable components, in this case two, for example, containing respectively outer and inner shoulders and each of which contains a twist lock, whereby the stackable components may be placed adjacent the cup, and whereby the second component of the tool may optionally fit within the stacking rings to provide extra axial space of both for allowing protruding shafts to extend therethrough or for allowing the seal to have an extended dirt lip or the like.
A further object of the invention is to provide a tool having a variety of second components, which may be sold to the purchaser in any number, but need also be sold only with one, two or a smaller number of second components, depending on the needs of the user.
A still further object of the invention is to provide a seal installing tool wherein the user may order one or more subsequent second components as his needs require.
The manner in which these and other objects and advantages of the invention are achieved in practice is by providing a seal installing tool which includes a cup like first member having a flat, closed end portion and means for accommodating a handle thereon, and a pair of sidewalls with an annular end face and at least one locking pin, a second component having a pair of parallel, spaced apart sidewalls and two annular end faces, one for each end, and at least one slot for engaging a locating pin, and optionally one or more pairs of additional cylindrical components which extend the reach of the cylindrical installation tool as desired.
The manner in which these and other objects of the invention are achieved and practiced will become more clearly apparent when reference is made to the following detailed description of the invention set forth by way of example and shown in the accompanying drawings in which like reference numbers indicate corresponding parts throughout.